Prince of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 574 Industrial Planning

In fact, Gao Ming has long had the idea of ​​developing the steam engine, but he has not found a suitable person to take it over.

The Datang Military Industry Department is definitely not acceptable, because Gao Ming defines it as a research and development department, not a production department.

Although the Royal Chamber of Commerce has a wide range of functions, it has too many affairs. It is not only responsible for the commercial taxes of Chang'an, Jingzhao and Jinzhou, but also responsible for perfume, distilled wine, roasted tea and other business items.

In addition to the promotion of Qu Yuanli, which was cleverly arranged, he was already too busy to do anything else.

Therefore, this time Qinghe Cui wanted to take over the steam engine, Gao Ming was immediately moved.

And the reason for the heartbeat is also very simple, because of the geographical advantage where the Cui family of Qinghe is located!

Cangzhou is adjacent to the Grand Canal in the west and the Bohai Sea in the east. It can be said that both sides have their own resources. Therefore, when Cui Zhang said that he hoped to become the second military industry department of the Tang Dynasty, Gao Ming's first thought was to make Cangzhou the first shipyard of the Tang Dynasty.

A shipyard specializing in steam engine seagoing ships!
Gao Ming has always believed that if Datang wants to increase its control over various places, it must have a certain amount of maritime military power.

But now Datang's sea ships are all driven by manpower and wind power, and they lack power. If they want to have a certain amount of sea military power, they must first build a batch of steam engine warships.

Take a five-toothed ship that can carry [-] soldiers as an example. At least [-] such steam warships need to be rebuilt to satisfy Datang's internal military control. If it is external, then this number will have to double. Several times.

Therefore, Gao Ming's current idea is to get a hundred steam engine warships first, and then build up Datang's sea power.

This is about the military, and about the economy, Gao Ming also has his own plans.

Many people know that a large ship transports more things than a horse-drawn cart, and if the wind is smooth, it is better to travel by water than by dry road.

Therefore, in addition to steam warships, Datang also needs a group of steam merchant ships specialized in transporting goods, so as to meet the transportation needs of merchants.

According to historical records, the Tianbao River dug in the middle of the Tang Dynasty was described as "half of the wealth of the world, all of which came from this road".

It means that half of the wealth in the world comes in from the canal of Tianbao River, which shows the impact of ships on commerce.

Today, the Tianbao River has not been excavated, but Gao Ming feels that as long as he can have enough steam merchant ships, establish a sea trade route, and at the same time make full and effective use of the Grand Canal, then the wealth that can be created is not comparable to that of a mere Tianbao River .

The circulation of materials can promote economic development, and economic development can make Datang richer. With money in the treasury, there are more things that can be done.

For example, Gao Ming's idea at the beginning was actually to get the train out, but he quickly gave up this idea because he realized that it was useless to just get the train out, and a rail was needed.

Railway tracks require a lot of iron, and with Datang's current level of technology, there is no way to provide the iron needed for train tracks.

Therefore, if Gao Ming wants to build railways, he must build more iron ore factories and smelters, so that more iron ore can be mined and more iron can be smelted!
This cost is not a small sum.

If Li Shimin's approach is followed, in order to save this huge expense, he will definitely conscript the people as slave labor, and then desperately squeeze these free labor.

But Gao Ming would not do that, he would choose to use money to recruit workers.

The difference between giving money and not giving money is that the former will be loved by the people, while the latter may make the people rebel!

It is precisely because he knows this that Gao Ming will work hard on the economy and find ways to make money.

Before Gao Ming led troops to defeat Goguryeo and Baekje, and returned to Datang with wealth worth tens of millions. If the money could be used, it would be no problem to build a railway within a thousand miles.

It's a pity that the money has been filled by Li Shimin into the national treasury. Even if Li Shimin wants to use it, he has to discuss it with the ministers. Even the emperor is like this, let alone the prince.

Most importantly, Gao Ming didn't know how to explain to these ministers what a railway was.

Did you tell the ministers that the railway is a road paved with iron?

This explanation is barely correct, but Gao Ming is also very clear that if he really explained it like this, he might be drowned by the saliva of the civil and military courts.

Paving the road with stones is considered extravagant, so you plan to use iron?
There is no way, it is so troublesome if the mind is not on the same channel. It is for this reason that Gao Ming can only be prepared to save money to repair the railway.

According to Gao Ming's original idea, he planned to wait until next year to use the money earned by the Royal Chamber of Commerce to build a batch of steam merchant ships for transportation. After two years, the money earned should be enough to build a railway connecting Chang'an, Luoyang and Taiyuan. Rebuild steam warships to develop maritime military power.

Gao Ming positioned this almost as "the first five-year plan of the Datang Industrial Revolution."

But now with Qinghe Cui's joining, Gao Ming felt that this plan should be completed two years ahead of schedule.

As a large family that has continued from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the present, the Qinghe Cui family naturally has a certain heritage.

When Li Shimin ordered someone to revise the "Clan Records", the officials in charge of this work also listed Cui as the first surname. Finally, under Li Shimin's intervention, the Li surname was listed as the first surname, and the queen's surname was listed as the first surname. The surname of Changsun is listed as the second, and the surnames of the big families in Shandong such as Cui are listed as the third.

This shows how profound the Cui family's heritage is.

However, what Gao Ming valued was not Qinghe Cui's other heritage, what he valued was the Cui family's wealth!

The Cui family is very rich. This veteran Shandong aristocratic family has accumulated wealth for hundreds of years, which is not comparable to Datang, an imperial city that has only been established for more than 30 years.

Li Shimin has been suppressing these aristocratic families all the time, in fact, there is also a reason for this.

After all, in this era, if you have money, you can recruit soldiers and horses, but for an emperor, his courtiers have more money than himself, which is not something to be happy about.

Li Shimin's mentality is understood by all the family members, so when Li Shimin is guarding against the family members, the family members are also guarding against Li Shimin.

But Gao Ming is different. For more than a year, Gao Ming's speed of accumulating wealth has amazed all the aristocratic families. In just over a year, he has obtained the wealth that these aristocratic families need more than ten years to obtain.

Therefore, the appearance of the Qinghe Cui family was not accidental.

And this kind of result is exactly what Gao Ming wanted, the appearance of the Cui family made it possible for his idea of ​​"borrowing chickens to lay eggs" to come true!
Therefore, after negotiating with Cui Zhang about the steam engine, Gao Ming never stopped smiling on his way back to the East Palace.

"Qinghe Cui's is the first one, and the second one is not far away!"

(End of this chapter)